"Dave S" wrote in message
ink.net...
Unfortunately, "effective" is also known as "racial profiling". If they
singled out the following for close scruitiny, the legal system in our
country would not permit it:

I should hope not. It's much easier to decide it's worth it for millions of
innocent people to suffer indignities and loss of freedom if *you're*
assured not to be among them. If you have to share the burden, you're more
likely to protest against excessive intrusions.

Young adult and middle age adult non-resident arab appearing men with
Arabic surnames.

Then your profiling will miss Richard Reid (for example), a British citizen
of white and Jamaican descent with a non-Arab surname. (Some people think he
has an "Arab appearance", but if so it's coincidental, as that is not his
heritage.)

This is the profile of the group that committed the 9/11 atrocities and is
the target population for recruiting by terrorist causes.

Pilots also figure prominently among the group that committed the 9/11
atrocities. In fact, the percentage of pilots in the US who carried out the
9/11 attacks is greater than the percentage of Muslims in the US who carried
out the attacks. So if you were to have selected a pilot at random for
screening (without regard to religion or ethnicity), you'd be more likely to
have selected a 9/11 hijacker than you'd be if instead you were to have
selected a Muslim at random for screening (without regard to pilot status).

--Gary